Arcadia Farm Camp
Arcadia Farm at Woodlawn Estate, 9000 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22309
About
Arcadia Farm Camp includes hands-on farm and food activities such as watering, planting seeds, tilling garden beds, weeding, harvesting, collecting eggs, exploring the compost pile, and exploring the chicken coop and beehives. Campers take part in taste tests, menu designs, chef demos, making recipes, preparing healthy snacks, and hands-on preparation of simple dishes and snacks, including making fresh salsa and fresh pesto. The daily rhythm includes morning farm chores, games led by counselors, bug races, independent play, group and free play, counselor-led cool downs, table activities, exploring the Natural Play Space, and lunch followed by camper rest time, with farm chores also taking place while campers wait for transportation.
• Ages: 6–12 years old
• Schedule: Weekly sessions running from June 22 to July 24, with each session held over a single week and daily drop-off in the early morning and pick-up in the mid-afternoon
Arcadia Farm Camp activities center on the Groundhog Garden, an interactive garden space with raised beds, rotating vegetable plots, a pollinator garden, and 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables, along with an outdoor chef’s counter, compost pile, chicken coop, beehives, a Natural Play Space, a large shaded tent with picnic tables, and indoor rooms used in emergencies or harsh weather. Every Farm Camp staff member has been CPR certified, has prior education experience, and completes extensive training specific to Farm Camp that covers outdoor education techniques, inquiry-based learning, facilitating an open learning environment based on choice and free play, conflict resolution, handling heat and inclement weather, emergency procedures, and cooking with kids. The staff-to-camper ratio is about 1:5 each week, with 5 experienced staff members during all weeks of camp, and campers are placed into mixed-gender, age-appropriate groups. All campers are expected to bring a morning snack and a bagged lunch, and breakfast is not provided, with the expectation that campers arrive having already eaten a filling breakfast.
Arcadia Farm Camp is part of Arcadia, a nonprofit organization established in 2010 with a mission to cultivate vibrant regional food systems that build the health of land, food, and communities, grounded in equity and guided by history. Arcadia Farm Camp is guided by the principles of Farm Based Education, with each aspect described as hands-on so that campers come away with an appreciation for cultivating food in harmony with nature and eating healthy, including harvesting ingredient vegetables directly from the farm and using seasonal vegetables from Arcadia Farm and other local farmer partners for snacks and a salad bar. Arcadia’s leadership team includes an executive director, operations and program directors, farm managers, an outreach and education manager, an on-farm education manager who oversees farm camp, and additional staff focused on mobile markets, community farming, volunteers, and farmer training. Arcadia’s broader community work includes training veterans to be farmers, operating Mobile Markets that bring fresh, locally grown food into vulnerable neighborhoods, supporting school and community gardens, and operating the Route 1 Community Farm where low-income and military families can grow and harvest their own food entirely for free, and the organization states a dedication to racial equity and a prohibition on discrimination based on protected characteristics in employment-related decisions.
A parent testimonial describes being impressed with the organization, counselor enthusiasm, creativity of the program, and the level of camper engagement, calling it a fabulous experience and “a home run.”
Last updated July 18, 2026.
• Ages: 6–12 years old
• Schedule: Weekly sessions running from June 22 to July 24, with each session held over a single week and daily drop-off in the early morning and pick-up in the mid-afternoon
Arcadia Farm Camp activities center on the Groundhog Garden, an interactive garden space with raised beds, rotating vegetable plots, a pollinator garden, and 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables, along with an outdoor chef’s counter, compost pile, chicken coop, beehives, a Natural Play Space, a large shaded tent with picnic tables, and indoor rooms used in emergencies or harsh weather. Every Farm Camp staff member has been CPR certified, has prior education experience, and completes extensive training specific to Farm Camp that covers outdoor education techniques, inquiry-based learning, facilitating an open learning environment based on choice and free play, conflict resolution, handling heat and inclement weather, emergency procedures, and cooking with kids. The staff-to-camper ratio is about 1:5 each week, with 5 experienced staff members during all weeks of camp, and campers are placed into mixed-gender, age-appropriate groups. All campers are expected to bring a morning snack and a bagged lunch, and breakfast is not provided, with the expectation that campers arrive having already eaten a filling breakfast.
Arcadia Farm Camp is part of Arcadia, a nonprofit organization established in 2010 with a mission to cultivate vibrant regional food systems that build the health of land, food, and communities, grounded in equity and guided by history. Arcadia Farm Camp is guided by the principles of Farm Based Education, with each aspect described as hands-on so that campers come away with an appreciation for cultivating food in harmony with nature and eating healthy, including harvesting ingredient vegetables directly from the farm and using seasonal vegetables from Arcadia Farm and other local farmer partners for snacks and a salad bar. Arcadia’s leadership team includes an executive director, operations and program directors, farm managers, an outreach and education manager, an on-farm education manager who oversees farm camp, and additional staff focused on mobile markets, community farming, volunteers, and farmer training. Arcadia’s broader community work includes training veterans to be farmers, operating Mobile Markets that bring fresh, locally grown food into vulnerable neighborhoods, supporting school and community gardens, and operating the Route 1 Community Farm where low-income and military families can grow and harvest their own food entirely for free, and the organization states a dedication to racial equity and a prohibition on discrimination based on protected characteristics in employment-related decisions.
A parent testimonial describes being impressed with the organization, counselor enthusiasm, creativity of the program, and the level of camper engagement, calling it a fabulous experience and “a home run.”
Last updated July 18, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.